OT XV [C] Dt 30:10-14; Col 1:15-20; Lk 10:25-37

When the Communists came to power in China, not a few Christians were arrested and tried for their faith. One was given the opportunity to reveal why he chose Christianity instead of the religion of his ancestors. I was in a deep pit, he said, sinking in the mire, and helpless to deliver myself. Looking up I saw a shadow at the top, and soon a venerable face looked over the brink and said, “My son, I am Confucius, the father of your country. If you had obeyed my teachings, you would never have been here.” And then he passed on with a significant movement of his finger and a cheerless farewell, adding, “If you ever get out of this, remember to obey my teachings.” But alas! That did not save me. Then Buddha came along, and, looking over the edge of the pit he cried, “My son, just count it all as nothing. Enter into rest. Fold your arms and retire within yourself, and you will find NIRWANA, the peace to which we all are tending.” I cried, “Father Buddha, if you will only help me to get out, I will be glad to do so. I could follow your instructions easily if I were where you are, but how can I rest in this awful place?” But Buddha passed on and left me to my despair.

Then another face appeared. It was the face of a man beaming with kindness and bearing marks of sorrow. He did not linger a moment, but leaped down to my side, threw his arms around me, lifted me out of the mire, brought me to the solid ground above, then he did not even bid me farewell, but took off my filthy garments, put new robes upon me, and bade me follow him, saying, “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.” That is why I became a Christian.

As followers of Christ, we can very easily see ourselves in that injured man because we were once dead, badly beaten up by our sins. But, we have been spotted by – ‘The Good Samaritan par excellence and our ultimate neighbor, beyond all comparison,’ who healed and delivered us from our sins out of his loving mercy and compassion for us. After he healed us, he entrusted us to his inn, which is his Church, for further spiritual caring and nourishment. And, our Samaritan who saved us is none other than Jesus himself, who said that he will be back someday in the future to take us with him to his Kingdom. This is what St. Paul tells the Colossians in today’s Second Reading, which is actually a Christological hymn: “God wanted all things to be reconciled through him and for him, everything in heaven and on earth, when he made peace by his death on the cross.”

The Jews and the Samaritans during the time of Jesus hated each other (as I explained two Sundays before). When Jesus told the story of a Samaritan helping a Jew, everyone was probably shocked. A Samaritan outcast helping a Jew? Impossible! “Good Samaritan” would have sounded like a bad joke—a contradiction in terms. The parable was an invitation for Jews to love Samaritans and Samaritans to love Jews. It is an invitation for people of all times to love their enemies — to love those they have previously hated.

The parable makes us realize that every human person is our neighbor. The Jericho Road is any place where people are being robbed of their dignity, their material goods or their value as human beings. It is any place where there is suffering and oppression. As a matter of fact, the Jericho Road may be our own home, the place where we are taking care of a mother or father, husband or wife, or even our own children. We may find our spouse, children or parents lying “wounded” by bitter words, scathing criticism or other, more blatant forms of verbal, emotional or physical abuse. Hence, Jesus invites us to have hearts of love. What God wants more than anything is for us to show our love to others, in our own home and school, in the workplace, and in the neighborhood, as the Good Samaritan did. Jesus is inviting us to have hearts of mercy for those who are being left hurt or mistreated on any of the “Jericho Roads” of life.

We are invited to be people of generosity, kindness, and mercy toward all who are suffering. A sincere smile, a cheery greeting, an encouraging word of appreciation, a heartfelt “thank you” can work wonders for a suffering soul.  One’s neighbor is the living image of God the Father, redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, and placed under the permanent action of the Holy Spirit. One’s neighbor must therefore be loved, even if he or she is an enemy, with the same love with which the Lord loves him or her.” Let’s resolve to prove ourselves to be good neighbors not only just today, but as long as we receive graces from the Lord.

OT XIV [C]: Is 66:10-14c; Gal 6:14-18; Lk 10: 1-12, 17-20

St. Philip Neri, who earned the title “Apostle of Rome” came down to Rome in the early 1500s as an immigrant from Florence and a layman. When he arrived, he was horrified by the physical and moral devastation of the city. Rome had been sacked in 1527 by the Germans who had left much of the city in ruins. The Gospel wasn’t being preached, and many priests and cardinals were living in open defiance of Christ’s moral teachings. Philip prayed to God to learn what he might do. He read the letters that St. Francis Xavier had sent back to Europe from India, where he had been converting tens of thousands. Philip thought that God was calling him to be a missionary to India, to give his life in proclaiming the Gospel. When he went to his spiritual director and told him what he thought God was asking of him, the wise old priest affirmed his desire to serve and bear witness to Christ. However, he told Philip to focus his attention on re-evangelizing those around him, declaring, “Rome is to be your India!” This was quite a task for one man. But Philip, relying on God’s help, started — first as a layman, then as a priest — to convert Rome, one person at a time. He would cheerfully go to street corners and say, “Friends, when are we going to start to do good?” He developed various entertaining social and religious activities to give the people, especially the young people, better alternatives for their hearts and time than those offered by the debauched culture around them. His impact was enormous, and when he died in 1595, much of Rome had been reconverted. The same God who spoke to Philip almost five hundred years ago challenges each one of us this morning through the Scriptures, to make “Your home and your family, your workplace and your parish are your mission field!”

While all the synoptic Gospels mention a mission of the Twelve, only Luke adds a second mission of the 72.  Moses selected the seventy-two elders to guide and govern his people. Here, Luke shows Jesus doing something similar, sending out in pairs, seventy-two other disciples to towns and villages to announce his visit. In this way, Jesus connects his Messianic mission with the whole of Israel’s history in which 72 had become a symbolic number. The Jews also believed that there were seventy-two nations in the whole world, and they had seventy-two members in the Sanhedrin, the supreme council of the Jews.

The disciples received instructions as to how they were to carry out their mission. For example, they were to “carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals, no food, no walking sticks.” His command was that the disciples should give up even these necessities so as to be both a living act of Faith in God and “walking signs” to those who saw them.  The disciples were only armed with their Faith and the name of Jesus. They needed nothing more. Their detachment from material goods would enable them to uphold the absolute priority of preaching the Good News. The spirit of detachment would also help them to trust more deeply in Divine Providence and would oblige them to rely humbly on the hospitality of those who were receptive to the Gospel. Their life-style should help proclaim their message: “The reign of God is at hand.”

Their guidelines were simple: go where they were received (v 5-6); remain in one place (v 7) and eat what was set before them (verse 8). After settling down in a house, if they were invited by a richer family they were not to move to another house for better convenience. This would help them avoid the appearance of being mercenary.  The basic idea behind Jesus’ instruction is that his disciples were sent as walking witnesses, and, hence, they were not to depend on anything or anybody except on the Holy Spirit of God and on Divine providence.

“Greet no one along the way.” This instruction implies that the mission was so urgent that nothing should divert the disciples from it.  In the Asian culture if you greet somebody they would be invited into the house for refreshments and chit chat. This would waste away the important time. Therefore, they were not to greet anyone on the way.

 “Let your peace come back to you.”  This means, “Don’t take rejections personally.  You have done your part, so don’t worry about the outcome.” It is not up to us to force anyone to accept Jesus. Our mission is to prepare the way. If a person’s heart is open, the Lord will enter in.

Just as Jesus in today’s Gospel gives instructions to the seventy-two missionaries, he also gives each one of us a mission to carry out. There are over one billion Roman Catholics and about as many other Christians who accept Jesus as “Lord” and “Savior.” So there are over 2 billion missionaries in a world of 7.7 billion people.  A recent survey asked the question, “Why do adults join the Catholic Church in spite of the scandals publicized in the media?”  Seventy-five percent of the new adult converts to the Catholic Church reported that they were attracted by a personal invitation from a Catholic who had a lively relationship with Christ and his Church.  As faithful Catholics, we will attract others to the Catholic Church—just as a rose attracts people by its beauty and fragrance.

Let us become heralds of the Kingdom in our own homes by treating each other with profound respect. When spouses respect each other and, thus, teach their children to do the same, our neighbors will experience the Kingdom in our families, because the Kingdom of God is God’s rule in our hearts enabling us to do His will. Let’s start evangelizing today, and let’s start it right from our home.

OT XIII [C]: I Kgs 19:16b, 19-21; Gal 5:1, 13-18; Lk 9:51-62

Abraham Lincoln was the finest and most spiritual of all the American presidents. During the Civil War, Lincoln was often criticized for not being severe enough on the soldiers of the South.  On one occasion after a battle, a general from the North asked him, “Why didn’t you destroy the enemy when you had the chance? President Lincoln answered with words adapted from today’s Gospel passage: “Do I not destroy my enemy by making him my friend?” That is exactly what Jesus tells   us in today’s Gospel: destroy our enemies by making them our friends. No doubt the feelings of anger and resentment run deep in many hearts today, and we wouldn’t mind if people who hurt us deeply were punished or suffered from bad luck.

This Gospel passage deals with the beginning of Jesus’ journey from the northern towns of Galilee to the southern city of Jerusalem through the land of Samaria. Jesus encountered obstacles from the Samaritans. The Jews and Samaritans shared a common origin in the twelve tribes of Israel. But they hated each other and refused to intermingle or intermarry because of a long-standing historic conflict between the two nations dating back to the eighth century BC, after the Assyrian conquest of the Jews. Even under Assyrian rule, the Samaritans claimed to have maintained proper worship in their land with Mount Gerizim as the center of their religious life.  They argued that the Jews were the ones who had compromised their religious beliefs during their Babylonian exile. The Jews, on the other hand, with the Temple of Jerusalem as the center of their religious life, accused Samaritans of having lost their religious and racial identity through intermarriage with their pagan neighbors.  They even considered Samaritans as heretical and false worshipers of the God of Israel and detested them far more than they detested the pagans. To get to Jerusalem, Galileans had either to go through Samaria or to take a longer, more difficult route east of the Jordan River.  Jesus chose the shortcut through Samaria. But the Samaritans both refused to honor Jesus as a prophet and violated the sacred duties of hospitality. This infuriated the apostles and two of them, James and John, asked Jesus if he wanted them to command fire to come down from Heaven and consume the Samaritans as Elijah had done in his day (II Kings 1:9-12).  Jesus rebuked them, however, because he was not a destroyer but a Savior with a message of mercy and love.

Jesus' choice to go through the villages of Samaria looking for hospitality tells us that he was extending a hand of friendship to enemies. Tolerance: It is a hard lesson, one that took the disciples years to learn. But, the virtue of tolerance, and tolerance for the right cause, needs to be taught in the church. Tolerance is “showing respect for others who are different than us”. It is giving to every other human being every right that we claim for ourselves.

There are two times in particular when tolerance is very important—one is looking past character flaws and bearing with those who irritate us, the other is being respectful and understanding of the differences between people. Tolerance towards others can be difficult. Sometimes it means being kind and respectful to the people who are really irritating. Being tolerant does not mean you must accept disrespectful or bad attitudes.

Taking advantage of the spread of “political correctness”, intolerant society groups have moved into an aggressive attack. We are going through very intolerant times in society, not just in one country, but I feel all over the world. It will eventually bring to an end our human civilization.

Religion and politics are the two areas of greatest intolerance happening in this world right now. Just last week a young Muslim in India was battered to death for being a Muslim I believe and made him recite the names of Hindu gods during the 5 hour battery on him.

Religious tolerance means that you favor extending religious freedom to people of all faith traditions, even though you probably disagree the validity of their beliefs and practices. Christianity is the religion that takes greatest intolerance from all other religions. Because the message of Christ is universal or Catholic. Catholic means, applicable to all men at all times. It is true in an absolute sense. Obviously then, only one can be universal. All other religions are limited either to one race, language or nation. Jewish religion was limited to one nation. Hinduism is limited to caste system and one has to be born a Brahmin before he/she can finally attain liberation. And caste system is prevalent only in India. Islam, though claiming to be universal is limited to people who can speak Arabic, because one has to know Arabic to understand the words of Allah. One has to pray in Arabic. Quran is not considered holy if it is printed in any other language. Bible, on the contrary was written in more than one language even in the original source and there are no languages now in which Bible is not translated. Bible is Holy irrespective of the language it is printed.  Therefore, Catholics profess in their creed: I believe in the Holy Catholic Church.

The truth and divine origin of Christianity have been made to depend on its supernatural character, and to stand or fall with a certain view of miracles. No other religion has miracles to authenticate their genuineness of the message, except Christianity. Therefore Christianity makes exclusive claims which are hurting other religions to spread and that is one of the reasons the truth of Christianity is always under attack. Most of the social or political issues like abortion, euthanasia, same sex marriages, cohabitation and so on, are hot button issues for the Church. The Church cannot go against truths revealed in the Bible. Then it will not be Catholic any more. Truth is truth for all human beings, not for people in just one country. Tolerance does not mean we keep quiet about these issues because it is going to hurt others’ sensitivity. You are not expected to be vitriolic in expressing your dissent. If you know the right thing and if you are keeping quiet just because it would hurt others’ feelings, you are not a true Christian. One of the spiritual works of mercy is to correct the wrong person patiently. Teach the ignorant. If we keep quiet, it will not probably help people with wrong notion about those issues. Tolerance means not to hate a person on the ground of his or her belief in a particular thing. It is willingness to work with a person of differing opinion or stand. This is what Jesus was trying to teach his disciples in today’s gospel. He did not favor his disciples’ retaliatory attitude. He won the Samaritans over by his tolerance and forgiveness. Therefore the Samaritans were one of the first groups who became Christians en masse soon after Jesus’ resurrection. Let’s learn and practice the attitude of tolerance and forgiveness otherwise we cannot be called Christians.

THE MOST HOLY BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST (Gn 14:18-20; I Cor 11:23-26; Lk 9:11b-17)

The feast of Corpus Christi is three feasts in one: the feast of the Eucharistic sacrifice, the feast of the Sacrament of the Eucharist and the feast of the Real Presence of Jesus in this Sacrament.  Corpus Christi is a doctrinal feast established for three purposes:  1) to give God collective thanks for Christ’s abiding presence with us in the Eucharist and to honor Him there; 2) to instruct the people in the Mystery, Faith and devotion surrounding the Eucharist, and 3) to teach us to appreciate and make use of the great gift of the Holy Eucharist, both as a Sacrament and as a sacrifice. Although we celebrate the institution of the Holy Eucharist on Holy Thursday, the Church wants to emphasize its importance by a special feast, formerly called “Corpus Christi.

Our belief in this Real Presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist derives from the literal interpretation of the promise of Christ to give us his Body and Blood for our spiritual food and drink, as found in St. John’s Gospel, Chapter 6.  Eucharistic theologians explain the Real Presence by a process called transubstantiation: the entire substance of bread and wine is changed into the entire substance of the risen, living, and glorified Body and Blood of Christ, retaining only the “accidents” (taste, color, shape) of bread and wine.

The gospel today highlights the Eucharist as food for the multitudes. The never-ending supply of bread with which Jesus fed the multitude prefigured his own Body, the consecrated Bread that sustains us until he comes again. The Eucharist is also a re-enactment of Christ’s sacrificial Self-giving. The Jews offered animal sacrifices to God, believing that life was in the blood, and the animal blood was a substitute for human lifeblood. Following this Jewish tradition, Jesus offered his own lifeblood as a substitute for the lifeblood of all human beings and, so, sealed the New Covenant made between God and humankind (1 Cor 11:25), bringing new life to the world.

The description of the miracle of the multiplication also points out the disciples’ role in the miraculous feeding of the multitude. Only after they give him what little they have can Jesus bless, break and give it back to them to distribute to the hungry crowd.

Why do we celebrate the Eucharist even some 2,000 years later?  We do this because Jesus told us to do so: “Do this in memory of me.”  St. Augustine in the 5th century AD said it best when he said: “It is your Mystery, the Mystery of your life that has been placed on the altar.”  Besides the terms The Eucharist and The Lord’s supper, it is also called by “Holy Communion,” because we become one with Christ by receiving him; and is also called “Holy Mass” (holy sending), because it gives us a mission: “Go in peace, glorifying God by your life.”

The Eucharist teaches us the importance of community, the bond that results from this sacrifice. John Chrysostom says: Just as the bread comes from many grains, which remain themselves and are not distinguished from one another because they are united, so we are united with Christ.”  Just as numerous grains of wheat are pounded together to make the host, and many grapes are crushed together to make the wine, so we become unified in this sacrifice. Our Lord chose these elements in order to show us that we ought to seek union with one another, to allow the Holy Spirit to transform us into Our Lord Jesus Christ and to work with Him in the process. Christ is the Head and we are the Body, the members.  Together we are one.  That which unites us is our willingness to sacrifice our time and talents to God in our fellow members in Christ’s Mystical Body.  This is symbolized by our sharing in the same Bread and the same Cup.  Hence, Holy Communion should strengthen our sense of unity and love.

We need to prepare properly to receive Holy Communion:  We should remember the warning given by St. Paul: “Whoever, therefore, eats the Bread or drinks the Cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the Body and Blood of the Lord. Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the Bread and drink of the Cup. For all who eat and drink without discerning the Body, eat and drink judgment against themselves.” [1 Cor. 11:27-9]. Hence, let us receive Holy Communion with fervent love and respect — not merely as a matter of routine.  One of the reasons why people receive the Holy Communion very casually is that they no more believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. If we believe that God is omnipotent, can work miracles at any time, and if we believe in the promises and words of God in Christ, then we would have no problem believing in the real presence. And all the Eucharistic miracles that happened all over the world over 2000 years should fortify our belief in this reality. When we fully believe in the real presence, we can really join St. Thomas Aquinas in his prayer of devotion in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament:  “O Sacrament most holy! O Sacrament Divine! All praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine!”

Ascension of the Lord: Acts 1:1-11; Eph 1:17-23; Lk 24:46-53

The feast of the Ascension tells us that the Church must be a community in mission, guided by the Holy Spirit and confident of God’s protection even amid suffering and death. Christ’s Ascension was the culmination of God’s Divine plan for Christ Jesus – his return to his Father with his “Mission Accomplished.” Ascension is the grand finale of all Jesus’ words and works done for us and for our salvation. As Jesus is now with God in glory, so Jesus is with us now in Spirit: “Lo, I am with you always.” 

A Jesuit priest, Walter Ciszek by name, was in Russia for 23 years, five of which were spent in the dreaded Lubyanka prison in Moscow and ten of which were spent in the harsh Siberian slave labour camp. He was finally released from Russia in 1963, in exchange for two Soviet spies held in USA. He died in 1984 at the age of 84. After release he wrote a book “He Leadeth Me.” In this book he tries to answer the question: ‘How did you manage to survive in Russia?’ he says: “I was able to endure the inhuman conditions in which I found myself because I experienced somehow the presence of God. I never lost my Faith that God was with me, even in the worst of circumstances.” What was true of Fr. Walter Ciszek is true of each of us. Jesus is with us; God is with us in the power of the Holy Spirit.

By His Ascension, Christ has not deserted us but has made it possible for the Holy Spirit to enter all times and places. In this way it is possible for each of us to be transformed by the power of the Spirit into agents or instruments of Christ.

The feast of the Ascension celebrates one aspect of the Resurrection, namely Jesus’ exaltation. The focus of this feast is the Heavenly reign of Christ. The Lord is now “seated at the right hand of the Father” as we profess in the Nicene Creed, meaning He alone is in control of the continuing plan of salvation through the Holy Spirit, unrestricted by time, space or culture.

 The Ascension is most closely related, in meaning, to Christmas. In Jesus, the human and the Divine become united in the Person and life of one man. That’s Christmas. At the Ascension, this human being – the person and the resurrected body of Jesus – became for all eternity a part of who God is. It was not the Spirit of Jesus or the Divine Nature of Jesus that ascended to the Father. It was the Risen living Body of Jesus: a Body that the disciples had touched, a Body in which he himself had eaten and drunk with them both before and after his Resurrection, a real, physical, but gloriously restored Body, bearing the marks of nails and a spear. This is what, and who, ascended. This is what, now and forever, is a living, participating part of God. That is what the Ascension, along with the Incarnation, is here to tell us – that it is indeed a wonderful and an important and a holy thing to be a human being. It is such an important thing that the fullness of God now includes what it means to be a human being.

How can he go, yet still remain with us? This mystery was explained by Pope Benedict XVI: “Given that God embraces and sustains the whole cosmos, the Lord's Ascension means that Christ has not gone far away from us, but now, thanks to the fact that He is with the Father, he is close to each one of us forever.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives this mission to all the believers: “Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.” This mission is not given to a select few but to all believers.

Bearing witness to Christ, to his message and the power of his goodness is our primary mission on earth. He said, "Go be my witnesses to all the nations." This is the mission we have been given. This is what we are supposed to do. Each one of us will do it in different ways. God calls some to witness as priests. He calls some to consecrate their lives as full-time missionaries. Others are called to be leaven in the dough of the world, transforming culture from within, either as humble workers or as great leaders. Each of us he calls to bear witness by the sincerity, faithfulness, and loving-kindness with which we live out our normal responsibilities and relationships. Until this mission becomes our highest priority in life, we will experience an interior restlessness that nothing will cure. We were created to live in friendship with God, and that means sharing in God's projects. And His project in this fallen world is "that repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached in his name to all the nations".

The feast of Ascension of Jesus calls us to imbibe that essence of Christianity and be his ambassadors today. May Jesus give us grace and strength to accept this challenge.

Easter V [C] : Acts 14:21-27; Rv 21:1-5a; Jn 13:31-35

One day, as St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa, 1910-1997) and her Missionaries of Charity were tending to the poorest of the poor on the streets of Calcutta, they happened across a man lying in the gutter, very near death. He was filthy, dressed in little more than a rag and flies swarmed around his body. Immediately, Mother Teresa embraced him, spoke to him softly and began to pick out the maggots that were nesting in his flesh. A passerby was repulsed by the sight of the man and exclaimed to Mother Teresa, “I wouldn’t do that for a million dollars.” Her response was immediate, “Neither would I!” Obviously, monetary gain did not motivate the diminutive woman known as the Saint of Calcutta; love did. In her writings, Mother Teresa frequently affirmed the motivating power of love. Quoting Jesus in today’s Gospel, she wrote, “Jesus said, ‘Love one another. Such as my love has been for you, so must your love be for each other.’” She continued, “We must grow in love, and to do this we must go on loving and loving and giving and giving until it hurts – the way Jesus did. Do ordinary things with extraordinary love: little things, like caring for the sick and the homeless, the lonely and the unwanted, washing and cleaning for them.” Elsewhere, Mother Teresa remarked that the greatest disease in the West today is not tuberculosis, leprosy or even A.I.D.S.; it is being unwanted, uncared for, unloved. That she did her part in trying to “cure” this disease was attested in everything she did and in every word she said.

Jesus has added a new element to the Old Testament command of love by telling us that the true test of discipleship is to love other people in the same way that He has loved us. Hence, the renewal of Christian life means a radical change of vision and a reordering of our priorities in life. Such a renewal brings us to embrace new attitudes, new values and new standards of relating to God, to other people and, indeed, to our whole environment. For most of us, “renewal” is something that comes at different stages in our lives, each time bringing us to a deeper understanding, insight and commitment.

The command of Jesus is both new and old. It repeats the precept of Lv 19:18 to love one’s neighbor as one’s self. What is new is that this love characterizes the new life inaugurated by Jesus and is proof of one’s love for God (1 Jn. 4:7). Jesus’ new commandment calls for love without limits, conditions, or prerequisites. This love opens our eyes to facts that we might otherwise overlook that the poor in the world belong to our family; that those who live in despair may be saved by our care of them; that peace can come to the world through our efforts.

It was a love that was attentive to the poor and the needy. During his life on earth, Jesus Himself was lovingly present to those who were not at all lovable.  He allowed himself to be moved with pity and compassion when he encountered those in need, and he was moved to tears in the midst of sadness.  He openly shed tears at the tomb of Lazarus.  He shed tears also over the city of Jerusalem.  Even the anger that Jesus displayed in the Temple was rooted in love — the love for His Father and for His Father’s house.  Jesus loved by serving others, by helping them and by healing others.  His was a love that healed and built up, that challenged and inspired people.  It was a deeply forgiving and sacrificial love. “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (15: 13).

We live in a culture that devalues life and worships death—a culture in which people drug themselves into oblivion. Women and girls are willing to starve themselves to fit some unrealistic media image of beauty and worth.  People and relationships are sacrificed on the altar of “workaholism.”  How are we to love ourselves when we are told over and over again that we are unlovable?  How do we reclaim our basic worth?   We can become whole and holy only when we learn to love ourselves properly, acknowledging the presence of the Triune God in our souls, making our bodies the “temple of the Holy Spirit.” Only those persons who are fully convinced that they are themselves lovable because God has loved them and so brought them into being can reach out comfortably and unconditionally to love those who themselves cannot love but can only hurt and hate and destroy. It is through constant love-centered interaction with God and each other that the “new earth, the new Heaven and the new Jerusalem” can begin to come into existence.

EASTER IV [C]: Acts 13:14, 43-52; Rv 7:9, 14b-17; Jn 10:27-30

One of God's favorite ways to describe himself is by saying he is like a good shepherd. Jesus did so more than once, as he does in today's Gospel. In the Old Testament, the comparison is everywhere: God chose shepherds to be the Patriarchs; he chose shepherds to be Israel's first kings; the prophets ceaselessly speak of Israel as a flock and God as their shepherd; the image returns again and again in the Book of Psalms, as in the beautiful expression from today's Psalm: "Know that the Lord is God; he made us, his we are; his people, the flock he tends."

Comparing God to a good shepherd can only happen in a religion that recognizes a special connection between the human person and God.  Jesus is our good shepherd who leads us to green pastures. He does not allow anything to come to us without himself going through them.

When the emperor Alexander the Great was crossing the Makran Desert on his way to Persia, his army ran out of water.  The soldiers were dying of thirst as they advanced under the burning sun.  A couple of Alexander’s lieutenants managed to capture some water from a passing caravan. They brought some to him in a helmet.  He asked, “Is there enough for both me and my men?” “Only you, sir,” they replied.  Alexander then lifted up the helmet as the soldiers watched.  Instead of drinking, he tipped it over and poured the water on the ground. The men let up a great shout of admiration.  They knew their general would not allow them to suffer anything he was unwilling to suffer himself.

Everyone who is entrusted with the care of others is a shepherd.  We become good shepherds by loving those entrusted to us, praying for them, spending our time and talents for their welfare, and guarding them from physical and spiritual dangers. 

There is a poem called "Footprints". It was written in 1936 by a girl named Mary Stevenson. Mary had lost her mother at age six. She grew up in poverty and hardship as her father struggled to raise eight children during the Great Depression. One cold winter's night when she was 14-years-old, she was locked out of the house. As she sat shivering on the doorstep, she wrote "Footprints" on a scrap of paper.

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. / Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky. / In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand. / Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there were one set of footprints. / This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat, I could see only one set of footprints. / So I said to the Lord, "You promised me Lord, that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. / But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there have only been one set of footprints in the sand. / Why, when I needed you most, you have not been there for me?" / The Lord replied, "The times when you have seen only one set of footprints in the sand, is when I carried you."

It's just a poem, just a story. But it rings true. 

Christ is our shepherd, and, as he reminds us in today's Gospel passage, if we trust in him, nothing, not even hardship and suffering, can "take us out of his hand".

Today’s Good Shepherd Sunday, is also the “World Day of Prayer for Vocations.”  The Church needs vocations to the priesthood, the diaconate, and the consecrated life so that we may have more good shepherds to lead, feed and protect the Catholic community. The duty of fostering vocations is the concern of the whole believing community, and we discharge that responsibility primarily by living exemplary Christian lives. Parents foster vocations by creating a climate in homes based on solid Christian values. They should pray with their children for vocations during the family prayer time and speak encouraging words about their pastors, the missionaries, and the religious, instead of criticizing these servants of God. Such an atmosphere in the family will definitely foster vocations from such families.

Jesus says, "My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me." He wants to stay close to us, and he wants us to stay close to him, close enough so we can always hear his voice. That way we can be sure to arrive safely to the rich pastures and refreshing streams of a meaningful, joyful life.

Unfortunately, life in today's world is noisy, and it is not always easy for us to hear the voice of our good shepherd. We are bombarded with so many other voices, so many images, so many ideas. Christ knows this, yet he still tells us, "My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me."No matter how noisy, dark, or stormy it gets, he knows how to make his voice heard in our hearts. We can always tune into it - that's the gift of prayer. 

The sheep who wanders away and gets stuck in a ravine or attacked by wolves cannot blame the shepherd. Just so, when our lives don't fill us with the meaning we long for, before blaming Jesus we should take an honest look at our prayer lives: do we pray?  Do we strive to pray better? Do I listen to my shepherd’s voice?

Today, as Jesus renews his commitment as our good shepherd, let's renew our commitment to be his good sheep, to give daily prayer the place it ought to have in our lives.